These are the 100 most useful Swahili words from our 1000-word beginner course - the vocabulary you will hear and use most often. Learn them first and you will understand a surprising amount of everyday Swahili.
| # | Word | Swahili |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | the food | chakula |
| 2 | the drink | kinywaji |
| 3 | the cup | kikombe |
| 4 | the bottle | chupa |
| 5 | the plate | sahani |
| 6 | the spoon | kijiko |
| 7 | the fork | uma |
| 8 | the knife | kisu |
| 9 | the breakfast | kiamsha kinywa |
| 10 | the lunch | chakula cha mchana |
| 11 | the dinner | chakula cha jioni |
| 12 | the bread | mkate |
| 13 | the butter | siagi |
| 14 | the cheese | jibini |
| 15 | the milk | maziwa |
| 16 | the coffee | kahawa |
| 17 | the tea | chai |
| 18 | the juice | juisi |
| 19 | the soda | soda |
| 20 | the rice | wali |
| 21 | the pasta | pasta |
| 22 | the fish | samaki |
| 23 | the chicken | kuku |
| 24 | the beef | nyama ya ng'ombe |
| 25 | the egg | yai |
| 26 | the soup | supu |
| 27 | the salad | saladi |
| 28 | the sandwich | sandwichi |
| 29 | the pizza | piza |
| 30 | the cereal | nafaka |
| 31 | the sugar | sukari |
| 32 | the salt | chumvi |
| 33 | the pepper | pilipili |
| 34 | the snack | kitafunio |
| 35 | the meal | mlo |
| 36 | the restaurant | mgahawa |
| 37 | the cafe | kafe |
| 38 | the bakery | duka la mikate |
| 39 | the cafeteria | kafetaria |
| 40 | the dough | unga uliokandwa |
| 41 | the pan | kikaangio |
| 42 | the pot | sufuria |
| 43 | the bowl | bakuli |
| 44 | the meat | nyama |
| 45 | the flavor | ladha |
| 46 | the toast | tosti |
| 47 | the yogurt | mtindi |
| 48 | the spice | kiungo |
| 49 | the teacup | kikombe cha chai |
| 50 | the lemonade | juisi ya limao |
| 51 | the jar | chupa ya kioo |
| 52 | the milkshake | milkshake |
| 53 | the vinegar | siki |
| 54 | the waiter | mhudumu |
| 55 | the beer | bia |
| 56 | the noodle | tambi |
| 57 | the cork | zibo |
| 58 | the wine | mvinyo |
| 59 | the sausage | soseji |
| 60 | the pitcher | jagi |
| 61 | the glass | glasi |
| 62 | the grapefruit juice | juisi ya danzi |
| 63 | the bill | bili |
| 64 | the menu | menyu |
| 65 | the bagel | bagel |
| 66 | the pancake | pankeki |
| 67 | the chocolate | chokoleti |
| 68 | the candy | pipi |
| 69 | the cookie | biskuti |
| 70 | the cake | keki |
| 71 | the ice cream | aiskrimu |
| 72 | the honey | asali |
| 73 | the bubblegum | pipi ya mpira |
| 74 | the gummy | pipi laini |
| 75 | the marshmallow | marshmallow |
| 76 | the syrup | shira |
| 77 | the cocoa | kokoa |
| 78 | the popcorn | bisi |
| 79 | the sundae | sundae |
| 80 | the cotton candy | peremende ya pamba |
| 81 | the custard | kastradi |
| 82 | the dessert | kitindamlo |
| 83 | the jellybean | peremende ya jeli |
| 84 | the lollipop | pipi ya kijiti |
| 85 | the jelly | jeli |
| 86 | the gingerbread | mkate wa tangawizi |
| 87 | the waffle | wafuli |
| 88 | the pastry | keki |
| 89 | the pie | pai |
| 90 | the cupcake | keki ndogo |
| 91 | the muffin | mafini |
| 92 | the donut | donasi |
| 93 | the biscuit | biskuti |
| 94 | the apple pie | pai ya tofaa |
| 95 | the carrot cake | keki ya karoti |
| 96 | the chocolate cake | keki ya chokoleti |
| 97 | the pumpkin pie | pai ya maboga |
| 98 | the apricot jam | jamu ya aprikoti |
| 99 | the jam | jamu |
| 100 | the apple | tuffaha |
The 100 most frequent words cover about half of everyday spoken language. With the full 1000-word core vocabulary you understand around 85% of typical conversations in Swahili - enough to follow along and make yourself understood.
They are the most frequently used words of the language, selected by word frequency. Every one of them will appear again and again in real sentences, so each learned word immediately pays off.
Listen and repeat: every word in the 1000 Words course comes with audio and an example sentence. Combined with spaced repetition in the free vocabulary trainer, most learners master the first 100 words within one to two weeks.